This week, I received a few unexpected gifts from friends and I am still flying high on the wings of their good deeds.

At the beginning of the week, a friend stopped by after work to share a cocktail and visit my (somewhat) new house.  She brought with her this bunch of yellow tulips.  They have been a source of bright, happiness all week long and a reminder that my own tulips should peek their little heads out of the ground in just a few short months.  The end of February can be pretty brutal in Chicago.  Yellow tulips from a friend put a BIG band aid on my winter blues.

Mid way through the week, another surprise.  A friend that I don’t see often enough tried to visit Whipped and found the site was down due to bandwidth issues.  He is a web savvy fellow and knew that might mean I had more visitors than usual to this blog.   To “celebrate” not being able to get to my blog due to excessive visitors, he sent me the book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.  The Amazon package showed up at my office unexpected and the treasure of a book inside lifted my spirits above the clouds.

It doesn’t take much to surprise someone with an unexpected gift.  For me, the effort and cost that went into these offerings was multiplied a dozen times in the good energy my friends gave me.  This weekend, I have been cooped up at home with an ugly flu bug unable to keep my social plans and falling behind with my “to-do” list.  But, I haven’t felt sorry for myself.  With these yellow tulips brightening my kitchen and an awesome book about my favorite subject… I am feeling lucky for the people in my life.